The Kitt Peak star party that made me question blue light filters

I drove down from Phoenix last October for the public night at Kitt Peak. Everyone in the group was raving about their blue light filter glasses and screen settings. I honestly thought it was overhyped, but I went with it. Then we got to the big eyepiece and I looked at the Orion Nebula. The core looked washed out, like someone put a gray veil over it. I took the glasses off and it popped, all that structure and color. I switched my phone to dark mode at the observing pad and it made no difference to my night vision, the red light was plenty. So now I tell people that yes, filters have a place for city viewing, but out under dark skies they can actually hurt more than they help. Has anyone else compared the same object with and without a filter at a dark site, or am I the odd one?

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